mexico+history

__ The History of MEXICO __ **The history of Mexico stretches from 1,200 BC. to modern day Mexico.** Mexico has had many wars and conflicts, but they also have a rich history. Mexico has been ruled by many empires, and each one has changed the culture and the people of Mexico forever. It all starts with the Native Americans in Ancient Mexico. **The first major civilization in Mexico was the Olmecs, who populated southern Mexico and parts of Mexico along the Gulf Coast. The Olmec Empire flourished roughly between 1,200 and 200 BC.** The Olmecs developed forms of writing and a calendar system, which influenced surrounding peoples. Some of the Olmec influences, such as working with stone, observing the stars and the worship of certain gods, were adopted by the Mayas, who came after the Olmecs. **The Mayas dominated a large region including most of southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. The Mayas developed a more sophisticated system of writing, astronomy, and a base five numeric system that used the concept of zero. The Classic period of Mayan civilization lasted from 200 BC. to 900 AD., but suffered some kind of catastrophe around 900 AD. After that, a new Mayan period developed further north in the Yucatan Peninsula.** **The Aztecs were nomadic, warlike people who arrived in central Mexico from the north in the late 13th century AD.** They wandered around the area for decades until 1344, when according to legend, they received sign that they should build their city Tenochtitlan. The sign was an eagle devouring a snake on a cactus patch. The eagle and the snake are still the national emblem today. **By 1430, the Aztecs dominated modern day Mexico City and in 70 years they expanded their territory to create the largest empire in the history of Mexico.** The Aztecs used political alliances with neighboring peoples, as well as strict military training among their young men, to extend their empire. **The first contact Mexico had with Spanish explorers was in 1517, when explorer Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba landed on the Yucatan coast.** He and his team confirmed that Mexico was a land dominated by powerful people who were hated by those forced to pay tribute to them. **The Spanish then sent a larger expedition under Hernan Cortez, who had ambitious plans after landing on the coast of Mexico. In 1519 he made his way toward Tenochtitlan**, the center of the Aztec empire, and using a mixture of terror and persuasion, Cortez gained allies during his march. **Moctezuma received the Spanish graciously, fearing they may be gods. After several fights, Cortez was able to conquer the Aztecs, and so began the Spanish rule over Mexico.** **The following 300 years mark the Colonial era, when the Spanish ruled over Mexico, and apart from establishing military and economic control, tried to convert the local population to Roman Catholics.** Between 1521 and 1650 the Indian population was heavily reduced, while the Spanish population grew. Although mining was the most sought after source of wealth, most people made their living from agriculture and raising livestock. The Spanish farmed large properties, while the Natives worked small plots or as serfs on the lands owned by their Spanish lords. **By the early 19th century, New Spain (Mexico) had grown tired of sharing their wealth with Spain and an idea for independence began to grow.** They saw an opportunity when Spain was fighting France’s invasion in 1808. **Despite some setbacks, the independence movement continued and Mexico won its independence in 1821.** On September 28, 1821, the first independent government was named with colonel Agustin de Iturbide at the head. Independence was followed by 30 years of great political turmoil. **In 1836, one of Mexico’s states, Texas, declared war on Mexico. Despite many advantages, Mexico lost the war, and was weakened financially. When the “Texas Revolution” ended, Mexicans were very angry and did not accept the Velasco agreement, the treaty that had ended the war. But the final straw for Mexico came when Texas was drafted into the U.S. in 1845, and Mexico declared war on the U.S. So began the U.S.-Mexican war of 1846-1848, in which Mexico lost the states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. These ended up being the last major boundary changes in Mexico.** After they won their independence, Mexico went through a period of reform. They elected Benito Juarez as president in 1861, and promoted reform laws that were incorporated into the Constitution of 1857. **When France took over Mexico under the power of Napoleon III, Austrian Archduke Maximilian ruled Mexico until 1867, when he was defeated and shot. Napoleon also pulled his troops out of Mexico to fight a war with Prussia.** The return to the Juarez government came after the France rule. **The Juarez years were followed by the dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz, a military leader who was president from 1876-1880 and 1884-1911.** Mexico underwent a period of economic development under Diaz, with the construction of railroads, ports and telecommunications. But Diaz's repressive government and the increasingly wide gap between rich and poor, coupled with Diaz's courting of foreign investors and large landowners, led to discontent and uprising after he won yet another election in 1910, his sixth consecutive re-election. **The 1910-1917 Mexican Revolution was started by Francisco Madero, a democratically minded politician who was opposed to re-election. With military uprisings by Francisco Villa in the north, and Emiliano Zapata in the south, Diaz was soon forced to resign and go into exile. Madero became president, but his army chief Victoriano Huerta staged a coup in 1913 and had him killed.** Huerta became president, but it was not a long presidency. Huerta stepped down in 1914, and Venustiano Carranza become president. **A new constitution was made in 1917, under Venustiano Carranza, and it is still used today.** Among other things, the constitution restored lands to the Indian population and renewed the problems of the Juarez years. By 1920, the three main leaders of the revolution, Madero, Carranza, and Zapata, were dead. **In 1929, the party that would later become the Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, was formed as a way of consolidating the reforms that were included in the 1917 Constitution.** Government was typically looked on to solve the problems of farmers, workers, peasants, and even private business. In the late 1970’s, Mexico’s oil industry underwent a boom that left the economy highly dependent on oil, a situation that had serious consequences during the 1986 oil price collapse. While the country now relies less heavily on oil as a percentage of exports and GDP, it is still the source of a third of government income via taxes and royalties. So began a brighter future for Mexico, after years of struggle and war. Nowadays, many people flock to Mexico for vacationing, and the government has improved a little. Unfortunately, though, Mexicans are now fighting the Drug War and it has become a dangerous place to travel in. Hopefully conditions will improve and we can go back to vacationing!
 * The Aztec empire reached its height in the early 16th century, under Emperor Moctezuma. This was also the time that Spanish explorers were coming to the New World, following the discovery of the Americas in 1492. **
 * The PRI was not seriously challenged in an election until 1988, when an alleged computer glitch at the time of vote counting led to widespread charges of fraud. The PRI lost its first presidential election in 2000 to Vincente Fox of the conservative National Action Party. **
 * In 1994, Mexico joined the U.S. and Canada in the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA. Later that year, Mexico was admitted into the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development. **